A Robot can build it for you

Jeremy Blum '12 holds one version of a prototype robot(Credit: Lindsay France/University Photography)

(Extract From Science Daily)

Armies of Robots are coming to crawl up the towers and skyscrapers to make repairs;In near future, human beings don’t have to, leading to less safety concerns, of course speed,economy results.

Hod Lipson, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and of computing and information science at Cornell University,as his Creative Machines are going on with their latest prototype,the researchers have this idea also there in their mind.It can autonomously traverse and manipulate a 3-D truss structure, using specially designed gears and joints to assemble and disassemble the structure as it climbs.

Lipson said he envisions transforming the built environment with the help of these kinds of technologies. Instead of making buildings out of concrete or other non-recyclable materials, components designed specifically for robots could be used to build or reconfigure structures more efficiently — for example, after an earthquake, or if an outdated building needed to be torn down in favor of something better.

The project is part of a National Science Foundation Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation grant jointly awarded to Lipson at Cornell, Daniela Rus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mark Yim of the University of Pennsylvania, and Eric Klavins of the University of Washington